Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland
by a.touch.eclectic
Summary: Harry and Hermione spend Christmas day together. A sweet little one-shot songfic to get into the Christmas Spirit. Fluffy!


This idea came from the fact that my choir sang this song at all their performances before school got out, which was about six I had to go to, but probably over twenty total. Songs get stuck in your head really easily that way. So, I hope you enjoy this little holiday cheer!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter. That all belongs to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. I don't own the song _Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland_ either.

Hermione opened her eyes slowly against the harsh sunlight that glinted off the newly fallen snow. The beam shone into her dorm room, falling right across her eyes, making it harder to get up than it normally would be.

"Hey Hermione! Are you up yet?" She heard Harry call from the common room. Then she remembered what day it was. It was Christmas! The day she would finally give Harry the gift she had longed to give him since third year. Now, in their last Christmas at Hogwarts, Hermione was determined not to chicken out once again. She threw on her dressing gown before bounding down the stairs with her gifts in her arms.

"Good morning Harry." Hermione said cheerfully, instantly awake.

"Good morning. You slept late. Breakfast has already started. We better hurry." Harry informed his friend.

"Sure, I'll open my gifts later."

The two friends heading out of the common room and into the deserted halls of the school. Very few people had stayed for the Christmas Holiday. Harry and Hermione pretty much had the run of the Gryffindor common room, as not even Ron and Ginny had stayed this Christmas.

As they entered the Great Hall, Harry and Hermione took in the view of the twelve beautifully decorated Christmas trees. They were distracted, however, by the jaunting of a very familiar voice.

"Ah, how sweet! Precious Potter and his Mudblood girlfriend have finally decided to grace us with their presence." Draco jeered.

"Shove off Malfoy." Harry yelled back. He then proceeded to ignore the annoying Slytherin for the remainder of the meal. Hermione had blushed very slightly at the statement that she was Harry's girlfriend, but she was still greatly offended by the term he had used to describe her.

After a hearty breakfast, they again retreated to the peacefulness of the empty common room.

"Oh Harry, thank you. This is beautiful." Hermione awed over the silver necklace with a tiny silver unicorn as a charm. She could tell it was a Muggle representation of the magical creature though, as it looked nothing like the majestic creatures Hagrid had shown them in their fourth year.

"I'm glad you like it. I saw it at a Muggle shop in London and immediately thought of you." Harry smiled at his friend.

The two continued to open gift throughout the morning, as they watched snow begin to fall lightly outside.

"Oh, Harry, let's go visit Hagrid. He's probably really lonely and cold, out in his hut all by himself."

"Sure, that's a great idea!" They slipped up to their dormitories to dress in warmer clothes, then returned to the common room moments later.

_Sleigh bells ring, are you listenin'?  
__In the lane, snow is glistenin'  
__A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight  
__Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland._

They laughed and joked as they walked down the hill toward Hagrid's hut. But then, Harry slipped and started rolling down the hill, unable to stop himself.

"Harry!" Hermione ran after him. He finally arrested his descent about midway down the hill.

"Harry, are you okay?" Hermione knelt down in the snow to inspect her friend. He just looked at her and smiled. Then suddenly, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down to him, making them roll down the hill again, this time rolling over each other as well.

When they reached the bottom, they were both out of breath from laughing so hard. "Harry, that wasn't very nice." Hermione pouted.

"Yeah, but it was fun." Harry pointed out. And then he did something that surprised Hermione even more than rolling down a hill with him. He reached over to her, and gave her a sweet, chaste kiss on the lips.

Hermione stared at Harry, hoping for an explanation, when the door to Hagrid's hut opened up, and their giant friend stood framed in the doorway.

"Wha' are you two up to, sittin' in the snow like that?" Hagrid came over to help them up.

"Thanks Hagrid. We sorta slipped coming down the hill." Harry explained.

"Well, thanks for comin' to visit me. It would be a lonely Christmas without some friends." Hagrid invited them into the hut for a cup of tea.

"You two are in for a real treat. I just got the new creatures for our first lesson after the holiday." Hagrid rushed out of the door excitedly.

Harry and Hermione gave each other knowing glances. The only thing that could make Hagrid so happy would be a particularly dangerous creature.

_Gone away is the blue bird  
__Here to stay is a new bird  
__He sings a love song as we go along  
__Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland_

He returned with a large, brilliantly lime green-plumed bird. The bird continued to open its beak, yet no sound came from its throat.

"Hagrid, is that a Fwooper?" Hermione asked, admiring the large animal.

"Yep, just got 'em in today. Enough for everyone in class I reckon." Hagrid said proudly.

"Well, at least they're not particularly dangerous. Do they all have silencing charms on them?" Hermione inspected the bird.

"Yeah. But I'll let everyone get a shot at reinforcin' 'em when the time comes."

Harry was slightly lost. "What exactly is a Fwooper?"

"Honestly Harry, do you ever read? It's in our textbook, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." Hermione scoffed at him.

"Yeah. Their song will drive you crazy if you listen to it for too long, so that's why they have a silencin' charm on them." Hagrid explained.

Harry and Hermione went outside to examine the other Fwoopers Hagrid had procured for their class. All of them were perfectly silent as they stood on a line of perches. The vivid orange, green, pink and yellow were quite shocking to the eye.

"Thanks Hagrid, we had a great time." Harry said as they left the hut later that morning.

"My pleasure. Now don't be a stranger, come see me again." Hagrid replied.

_In the meadow we can build a snowman  
__And pretend that he's a circus clown  
__We'll have lots of fun with mister snowman  
__Until the other kiddies knock him down_

Not ready to return to the castle, Harry and Hermione decided that they should build a snowman, mainly because Hermione refused to engage in a childish and potentially dangerous snowball fight. They spent some careful time constructing the man, right down to adding buttons to his snow jacket and even a small snow dog.

"Ah look. Bigheaded Potter and Mudblood Granger are out here making a precious little snowman. Isn't that sweet?" A malicious voice floated down toward the two friends.

"Malfoy, I'm warning you for the last time, don't ever, _ever_ call Hermione that again!" Harry threatened the blond Slytherin.

"Or what, you'll tell on me? You know you can't use magic during the Holiday. You'll get detention, or worse, expelled." Malfoy sneered.

"Yeah, but I can do this!" Harry, doing what he'd wanted to do for years, pulled back his right fist, and gave Malfoy a good sock to the stomach. Hermione gasped in surprise that Harry would actually resort to physical violence, and for her sake.

"You'll pay for that Potter." Draco gasped for breath, they signaled his lackeys, Crabbe and Goyle, to knock over the snowman Harry and Hermione had worked on for about a half hour. As the snow came falling down, the three Slytherins made their way back to the castle.

"Does that boy have even one kind bone is his body?" Harry asked rhetorically.

"Harry, you just better hope that he doesn't go tell a teacher on you. You can get into serious trouble for punching him." Hermione pointed out.

"So what. It was worth it. You weren't scared to punch him back in third year." Harry smiled at her.

"Yeah, well," Hermione didn't have a response for that. "Thanks though. You really didn't have to fight him, even if he did call me a, a you-know-what." She dropped her head in shame.

"Hermione, don't let anyone bring you down. You're better than anyone here at Hogwarts, at that includes mister 'I'm-so-cool-just-because-I-was-born-into-a-pure-blood-family.'"

"Thanks Harry. That means a lot." Then Hermione gave into her own impetuous desires, leaned over, and kissed Harry. When they broke apart, both carried a large grin on their face.

_Later on, we'll conspire  
__As we dream by the fire  
__We'll face unafraid the plans that we made  
__Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland_

The two sat in the cozy armchairs in front of the fire in the common room. Harry had started talking about getting back at Malfoy for all the mean things he had done to them over the years. Hermione was now in fits of laughter over the outrageous things Harry had thought of.

"No, the perfect torture, and I'd kill two birds with one stone. Stick Malfoy and Dudley in a locked room together, sealed by magic. Whoever kills the other, or at least knocks the other out is the winner." Harry suggested.

"That's not very nice. Dudley would be dead in a few seconds, if Malfoy had his wand." Hermione pointed out between her laughter.

"Well, Malfoy doesn't get his wand, and Dudley doesn't get to sit on him." Harry tried to compensate for the two.

"Harry, you'll never get this to happen you know." Hermione tried to get him to think realistically.

"Yeah, but it's still fun to imagine."

_In the meadow we can build a snowman  
__And pretend that he is Parson Brown  
__He'll say "Are you married?" We'll say "No man"  
__But you can do the job when you're in town_

Harry finally persuaded Hermione to leave the warm fireside for a short walk outside before they headed to the Great Hall for dinner. As they rounded the corner where they had built the original snowman, they noticed that the little snow dog still stood, looking forlornly alone.

"Oh, why don't we make him a new snow friend?" Hermione suggested.

"That would be a great idea. Let's go." Harry piled a small ball of snow and began rolling it around for the base. Hermione worked a smaller ball around to make the middle section. Together they made a head, then attempted to make a hat, but it ended up a little lopsided. Just as they put the finishing touches on the face and jacket, the sun was setting over the lake, backlighting the old snow dog and his new snowman friend. The way the light played on the two, it almost appeared as they were laughing, happy to be brought together.

"Hermione, this has been the best Christmas I've ever had. Thank you for spending it with me." Harry looked deeply into his friend's eyes.

"Harry, I totally agree with you. I can't think of anything I'd have rather done than what we've done today. And, Harry, there's something I want to tell you." Hermione took a deep breath, preparing herself for the announcement she was about to make. "I - I love you. Ever since third year. I've just never had the courage to tell you before now."

"Hermione, really? Since third year?" Harry heart warmed with her announcement.

"Yes. Now I know I shouldn't have told you." Hermione took Harry's astonishment to mean that he didn't have any feelings for her.

"No. I'm glad you told me. Because, I love you too." Harry told her.

"Oh, Harry." Hermione threw her arms around him. He then began to spin her around for a while, then took her lips in his. She smiled at the touch, and slowly began to part her lips. Harry took this as an opportunity, and his tongue darted into her mouth. They stood there, locked in a passionate embrace.

When they finally broke apart for lack of oxygen, Hermione opened her eyes slowly, and was greeted with the most beautiful sight of all. The Great Hall was illuminated, the golden trees shining through the many windows. It provided the perfect backdrop as Harry dropped to one knee in front of Hermione.

"Hermione, you've been my best friend for many years. Over those years, though I may not have shown it like I should, I came to care more deeply for you. It took me until last year, when I almost lost you, to make me realize that I love you. Please, will you marry me, and allow me to express how much I care for you for the rest of our lives?"

Hermione's eyes glistened with tears of joy. "Harry, yes! I love you!" Harry again pulled her into a passionate kiss, and they smiled as the walked to the Great Hall, hands intertwined, and hearts full of joy and happiness.

_When it snows, ain't it thrillin'  
__Those your nose gets a chillin'  
__We'll frolic and play the Eskimo way  
__Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland _

**The End**

**Happy Holidays everyone! For those who don't know, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a book published by Scholastic. It's a really silly book, but fun to read. Now, Review! **


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